One Night

Chapter Twenty Two

Zayen

The guard that was holding Alara took one look around the room and dashed out. I shouldn't have let him go—because it's likely he will come back with more guards.

My fists are already going numb and I don't know how many more I can take on.

"Why do you look so . . ." Alara's eyes travel over my face and body. "Like you're going to destroy everything that gets close to you."

Because I am. Because the anger that is burning inside me is nearly blinding.

I promised to protect Alara and I couldn't. Seeing her in that guards hands, being handled like a doll made me—

And Nawaz is nowhere to be seen. He could be dead or being tortured for information.

And without him, I lose those kids. If Alara and I get out of here safely, it won't matter, because the only two people I live for would be gone.

I step forward and hold onto Alara. She lets me. "Are you okay?" I ask. It's a stupid question, with everything that is going on, but I need to know.

She nods, her eyes wide with surprise and something else. "Thank you."

Hearing those words from her lips hits all the right spots of my ego. The corner of my lip lifts. If we were friends, if the situation was different, I might have leaned down and kissed her.

She shifts closer, her eyes dropping to my lips for barely a second. Oh, how I really wish the situation was different.

My grip on her tightens as my body fights my mind. "We—" My voice comes out rough and breathless. "We should get out of here. Should we look for Nawaz?"

"Yeah, we have to." Unfortunately.

She hesitantly steps back, her arms wrapping around herself. "I really need to learn how to fight. I'm sorry."

"You did well. Using your body as a weapon is a great start." Her smile is slow and shy. She tries to turn away to hide it from me. "Are you blushing?" I tease.

Her smile falls and she meets my gaze again. There's a fierce defiance in her eyes, like she'd rather be doing absolutely anything other than hearing my compliments. "We have to go."

I step closer, the back of my hand brushing against her cheek. Even in the dim lighting of this prison-style hallway, I see the look in her eyes shift from fear to confusion to . . . something.

Stop. My hand slowly slides down her arm. She doesn't move, allowing me to reach all the way to her hand. My fingers linger over hers for a moment before I drop my hand to my side.

"Why did you let me do that?" I ask. She should have stepped away, should have done something.

"Why did you do it?" she retorts.

Because of that look in her eyes. Because my ego is hurt after all of the fights I have lost, but when I feel the softness of her skin beneath my touch it reminds me that there are other ways to win, besides fighting. "I . . . I don't know."

She nods and takes a step towards the exit, but I stop her.

"We should try going that way." I nod my chin down the passage, in the opposite direction of where she wants to go. "In the opposite direction of where all the guards came from, yeah?"

Her face scrunches and I can see she knows it's a better idea. She won't admit it though.

I start walking and know she'll follow. Although there's no way to know what we are walking towards, or if there is any way out of this mess.